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Heard of this new super food but unsure of exactly what it is or how to use it!  Fear not, read on for all you need to know about Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah).

Originating on the slopes of the Andes in Peru and Bolivia, this grain is a fantastic and more nutritious alternative to rice and couscous. Quinoa contains all of the essential amino acids thereby making it a complete protein. Gluten free, high fibre, full of nutrients, quick and easy to cook; what’s not to love.

What to buy:

Quinoa comes in three different varieties; white, red and black. White is the most widely available and takes the least amount of cooking time while black takes the longest with red somewhere in the middle.

How to cook:

Rinse the grain thoroughly then place in a saucepan and add water at the ratio of 1:2. For example, add two cups of water for one cup of Quinoa. Place the saucepan over heat without a lid until it comes to the boil. Then add the lid, reduce the heat and simmer for 12-15 minutes.

Works well with:

The amazing thing about this super grain is that it works perfectly with both Middle Eastern and Indian flavours such as paprika, coriander, cumin and cinnamon as well as Mediterranean flavours such as parsley, lemon and mint. You are only limited by your creativity.

A quick recipe to get you started:

Quinoa and Roast Vegetable Salad

Ingredients:

½ medium Cauliflower, cut into florets

1kg of sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 3cm pieces

Spray Olive Oil

1 teaspoon of ground cumin

1 teaspoon of ground coriander

1/3 cup of slivered almonds

1 cup of Quinoa

200g feta, chopped

2 teaspoons of fresh rosemary, chopped

2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 ½ tablespoons of white wine vinegar

40g rocket

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 200⁰C. Line two baking trays with baking paper.

Spread the sweet potato on one of the trays and spray with olive oil – bake for 45 minutes or until tender. Spread the cauliflower on the other tray, sprinkle with the ground spices and spray with olive oil – bake for 20 minutes or until soft and golden. Cool both trays.

Spread slivered almonds on a baking tray and bake for around 3 minutes or until golden. Set aside.

Add 2 cups of water to a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the Quinoa and simmer for around 12 minutes or until just tender. Drain and cool – fluff the grains using a fork.

Combine the roast vegetable, Quinoa, feta, rocket and rosemary in a large serving bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil and the vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Toss gently. Sprinkle with the almonds and serve.

See the Fitstyler Health & Nutrition page (http://www.fitstyler.com.au/Health_Nutrition/Health-Articles/ ) for more fitness and training tips.

Nothing says summer quite like a chilled mango and their health benefits make them a fantastic choice too. It’s easy to see why they are Australia’s most popular seasonal fruit; we consume around 8 million trays of them every year!

Mangoes (or mangos) are packed full of energy, are low in fat and brimming with calcium and other vitamins that are essential for a healthy body.

An average sized mango provides three times your recommended daily intake of vitamin A and C. They also provide more beta-carotene than any other fruit as well as being an amazing source of potassium and fibre.

Mangoes help you to maintain a healthy blood sugar level since most of the energy they provide comes in the form of carbohydrates. Being low GI means they will always keep you feeling fuller for longer and reducing the tendency to over-snack. Half a mango only contains 248kj or 60 calories for those watching their daily calorie intake.

As well as their health benefits they just taste delicious and are versatile too. You can eat them all by themselves or add them to dishes both sweet and savoury or even make drinks out of them. Try a homemade mango smoothie, or adding some freshly sliced mango to desserts such as Pavlova or to a summer salad for a touch of sweetness and vibrant colour.

Mango season, just like summer, never seems to last long enough so get them while you can. Your health and your tastebuds will thank you for it.

Fun fact: Mangoes have been around for over 5000 years and there are more than 1000 varieties around the world. What’s your favourite?

Check out the Fitstyler Healthy Recipes page (http://www.fitstyler.com.au/Health_Nutrition/Healthy-Recipes/) for some tips!

Ideally you should eat 3-4 hours before a training session to allow for adequate digestion and absorption of the food.
Getting up and working out early in the morning makes eating this far in advance of the session impractical. So what should you do?
You should definitely still have something in order to have the energy to get the most out of your exercise. Aim to ‘fuel up’ your body 1-2 hours prior to your workout.

Some ideas for a meal 3 – 4 hours before exercising:

• Baked beans on toast
• Porridge
• Cereal with milk
• Fruit salad and yoghurt
• Crumpets or toast with jam, honey or peanut butter
• A couple of boiled eggs and wholegrain bread

Light snack ideas for 1 -2 hours before a workout:

• Fruit smoothie
• Sports bar
• Cereal with milk
• Cereal bar
• Yoghurt
• Fruit
• Liquid meal supplement such as Sustagen

You should still have something to break the nightly fast even if you have less than an hour between waking and exercising – try a sports drink or sports bar, a banana or a glass or fresh 100% fruit juice and have the energy to get the most from your workout session.

Overall you need to determine what works best for you. Timing, food and amount will affect each individual differently. The amount you eat should also be determined by the type of exercise you are undertaking – larger amounts of food and drink are better tolerated if you are doing lower intensity exercise or activity where the body is supported such as cycling. If you consume larger quantities and then take part in exercise such as running you run the risk of stomach discomfort due to the jostling of the gut.

Try to include low GI foods such as multigrain bread, yoghurt or oranges – these foods will cause a slower release of glucose throughout the session, giving you energy for longer. If going for a sports drink or sports bar always read the labelling first so you know exacting what you’re consuming in terms of sugar, salt and additives – not all are created equally.

Eating too much prior to working out can cause you to feel sluggish or even suffer from stomach cramps. Eating too little can have you feeling depleted of enough energy to get through the session.

Remember to keep up your fluids to avoid dehydration and for optimum benefit of your session – eat again immediately (or within half an hour) after your training.

Conduct a google search on artificial sweeteners and you will be overwhelmed but the varied opinions surrounding the topic and whether or not they are bad for you. For every piece of research claiming the health benefits on one there is research to claim the opposite is true. Confused? Before deciding what sweetener you will use, you should have an idea of what the different types are and the potential benefits and risks are.

Artificial sweeteners available in Australia fall into the following main types:

• Acesuphame
• Aspartame such as Equal and Nutrasweet
• Cyclamate
• Saccharin such as Sweet’ N Low
• Sucralose such as Splenda

These products contain no calories so offer benefits for weight control, they don’t generally raise blood sugar levels so are appropriate for diabetics and don’t cause tooth decay as with natural sugar.
On the flip side, artificial sweeteners contain no calories – I know I already said that as a benefit but it can also be a concern since no calories may mean that you do not feel full and so will eat more. While the National Cancer Institute and other health agencies in the United States have found ‘no sound scientific evidence that any of the artificial sweeteners approved for use cause cancer or other serious health problems’ there still persists the idea that they contribute to the prevalence of cancer, genetic abnormalities and other chronic diseases. There is also concern as to the long term effect of these chemicals on the body.

Also available are synthetic sugar substitutes which may be derived from naturally occurring substances such as herbs and sugar itself. Stevia is a fairly newly available product which is produced from a plant and is three times as sweet as sugar ideally meaning that you would use less for the same effect.

Unless you take the liquid sugar straight from the sugar cane then all sugar is refined and processed in some way. Sugar is easier for the body to break down into glucose but is a lot of calories, particularly in the quantities that many of us are consuming on a regular basis.

So what is best? Unrefined sugar, refined or processed sugar, sugar substitutes such as Stevia or artificial sweeteners? Well the jury is still out and a lot many research needs to be conducted on the effects of all of them so for now the best advice is everything in moderation, read the food labels carefully so you know exactly what you are putting into your body and be aware of the risks should you have a pre-existing condition such as diabetes. Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security by using artificial sweeteners or sugar substitutes – food and drinks containing these substances still contain calories in other forms and you still need to watch your kilojoule intake and exercise to burn it off.
Ideally we would all consume a lot less sugar or sweeteners overall. So maybe that is where our efforts should lay – in reducing the intake rather than focusing on the type of sweetener. Got a craving for something sweet – grab some fruit instead.

We have probably all been guilty at some time of succumbing to comfort eating or eating in an attempt to reduce our stress levels.

Stress is caused by different times for different people so it’s important that you understand your own body and the stress triggers that can or will affect you. Simply put, stress occurs when an increasing pressure leads to a surging of hormones such as noradrenalin, adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones are released into the body so that it can cope with the pressure. Once the pressure reduces then the hormone levels normalise. If the pressure is present for an extended period of time the hormones will accumulate, leading to stress symptoms which again are different for each individual.

Your diet can affect your stress levels. Foods that are high in fat will cause stress in your body since foods containing high levels of fat act as a chemical stressor on your body by increasing the production of stress hormones called glucocorticoids. Caffeine and other stimulants can cause an overstimulation of the central nervous system. Your body can become stressed by trying to break down any residual pesticides, chemicals and preservatives that you ingest so it is wise to avoid too much of these types of things. Finally, while moderate alcohol consumption has health benefits, consuming too much alcohol will open up your body to additional stress by interrupting sleep patterns and causes damage to the liver in the longer term.
Once you begin to exhibit signs of stress we sometimes then make poor choices which will not actually make us feel better or reduce stress but will just exacerbate the stress symptoms such as:

• Drinking too much coffee;
• Choosing comfort foods which tend to be high in fat, sugar and salt;
• Snacking and eating more than usual or is required;
• Forgetting to drink enough water;
• Missing meals entirely;
• Extreme diets
Making these choices while stressed can lead to blood sugar level imbalances, lowered immunity, caffeine side effects, weight gain or unhealthy sudden weight loss, dehydration and a whole host of other issues that are not good for you or your stress levels. Feeling unwell or getting sick will just add to your stress.
You can lower your stress levels by implementing activities into your life such as exercise, meditation, yoga, and of course, better nutrition. Adding foods such as tea, brazil nuts, pink salmon, bananas, pistachios, cinnamon, beetroot and chocolate have all shown to help lower stress.